Friday, November 29, 2013

Did you enjoy the hilarious conclusion to the LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles series? The three specials may be done but you can keep enjoying The Yoda Chronicles with the companion book from DK!

LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles written by Daniel Lipkowitz is a gorgeous full-colour 64-page hardcover book that ties in nicely to the TV specials but also looks at many aspects of the the LEGO Star Wars Universe from Yoda's perspective. This book came out before the specials all aired so it doesn't go too deep into those plots. Instead it provides MANY fun facts about Yoda's story and other LEGO Star Wars characters and planets, all with the beautiful photography you'd expect from DK books.

The included "Exclusive Minifigure" is of a Republic Special Forces Commander. If you're a die-hard collector of the LEGO minifigs then I guess that would be exciting. To me it would've made much more sense to include a Yoda figure in the Yoda Chronicles book, but this character is pretty cool.

Since I'm not a LEGO collector I enjoyed this book more for the entertaining writing with plenty to look at. Viewed that way, the minifig is a nice bonus to a fun book.

LEGO Star Wars Yoda Chronicles is available now in bookstores and online.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

What happens when a Simpsons writer is unleashed in the world of Star Wars? You get FIVE hilarious LEGO Star Wars specials, including the brand-new final chapter of the Yoda Chronicles series - ATTACK OF THE JEDI! Join us for a fun, family-friendly chat with screenwriter Michael Price as we discuss Star Wars memories, parenting, writing and why punctuality is so important when attending movies!

Monday, November 18, 2013

The third & final LEGO: Star Wars Yoda Chronicles episode will debut on Wednesday, November 27th on Cartoon Network USA, and to prep you for it they're running repeats of the first 2 Yoda Chronicles episodes first.

Here in Canada we have to wait a day to see the Yoda Chronicles finale but TELETOON is certainly making it worth the wait with a marathon of ALL 4 previous LEGO: Star Wars shows before the new one! No wonder their calling it LEGO: Star Wars day!

On
Thursday, November 28 at 7 p.m. ET/PT, TELETOON presents “Attack of the Jedi,”Part 3 of LEGO® Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. Leading up to the premiere, starting at
5 p.m. ET/PT, TELETOON will broadcast a marathon of back-to-back LEGO® Star Wars specials, including
LEGO® Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, LEGO® Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out,
The Yoda Chronicles: The Phantom Cloneand The Yoda Chronicles: The Menace of Sith.

Obi-Wan
learns that several major Sith lords and their apprentices are gathered
at Mustafar. The Jedi hurry to Mustafar to destroy
the Sith in one blow, only to discover that it’s a trap. The Republic
fleet is destroyed, but the Padawans manage to put their bus back
together. Yoda, Anakin and the Padawans travel to Endor where JEK is.
All hope now rests on JEK.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I have to admit, my paper airplanes usually look cool but would probably fly farther if I just crumpled the paper and tossed them like a baseball. Along comes Benjamin Harper and "the Scientists of Klutz Labs" to offer up Star Wars Folded Flyers, a book of fold-able templates to help you not only make better flyers, but man they look great too!

Like other Klutz titles, this is an activity book with far more to DO than to read. The book is divided into two sections: the first is the glossy description, tips & instruction pages that are a lot of fun, give a little background info for each starfighter and even some info for the related characters. Seeing what is basically Darth Vader's driver's license was a highlight of this section.

The second half is pre-designed template sheets for you to pull out and fold. What's great is you get several copies of each ship in case you make mistakes or more likely in case you have 4 kids who ALL want a Millennium Falcon! And they might, because the artwork is wonderful and incredibly detailed.

The book comes with an "Ages 8 & up" suggestion and it is very accurate to my experience. While I found the instructions refreshingly straight-forward, the only child who was able to do most of the folding himself was 8. If your kids are younger, be prepared to do pretty much all the folding yourself.

Most of the starships included look great when folded and some look just ok. The TIE Advanced X1 (TIE fighter) looks a little too much like a toilet-paper roll with wings. The X-wing and Jedi Starfighter looked the best.

There are ships from all across the Star Wars film saga. When folded carefully they look great (mostly) and fly pretty well. For the price of 1 plastic Star Wars toy (and I have nothing against having more toys!), consider this alternative that involves both fine AND gross motor skills, assuming your kids do some folding, and you don't get caught up having fun doing all the launching yourself!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Are Ewoks cute & cuddly characters for kids or fierce warriors? Hop
on a speeder bike, sharpen your spear and get ready for some
Ewok talk! Zack Giallongo, writer & artist of the new Dark Horse
comic digest Star Wars: Ewoks - Shadows of Endor becomes the very first guest on the Star Wars Kidscast!Join us as we chat about Ewoks' image problems, The Clone Wars, art and
of course Star Wars! www.ZackGiallongo.com

Also enjoy our regular features including News Updates, Kids' Questions and an ongoing Contest!

Monday, November 11, 2013

It's nice to talk about Star Wars with anyone, especially other Dads who grew up with the original trilogy and enjoy Star Wars now with their kids. The guys at Dadsaster invited me on to talk a little about that. Little did they know our little girl would be making herself heard as well. Parents listen and enjoy...we're on near the end:Listen here to Dadsaster "Tech Dad" episode.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Shopping with our daughter tonight and I saw these at a local store. I've seen other Star Wars
toothbrushes before, but these are probably the coolest ones I've ever
come across.

These are the GUM® Star Wars Lightsaber toothbrushes. They are lightsaber-shaped and the blades flash for 60-second intervals to encourage longer brushing. The hilts or handles are really detailed close-up. Better than some of the toys!

They come in Anakin blue, Vader red and Yoda green each with unique hilts. No Darth Maul double-bladed ones yet!

Anybody tried these yet? Something fun but strange about putting a weapon in your mouth, but as Obi-Wan said, it is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age....and smile.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Star Wars Thumb Doodles is not a book to read exactly but an activity book to DO. From Klutz comes this fun and silly art book for young artists of nearly any skill level.

The concept is simple: you make thumbprints or fingerprints using the included (ink-luded?) ink pads, then use the supplied marker and the very cool double-sided lightsaber pencil crayon to add details. With a little practice your prints can become Star Wars characters and vehicles. Various movie scenes are recreated in black & white as simple but effective backgrounds.

The colours included seem limited at first but you can go pretty far with this small palette. The drawing style of the sample illustrations is simple enough that the children who tried it with me had no problems creating characters. We had fun making cartoon-y versions of Ewoks, Yoda, Darth Vader, Jabba & AT-AT walkers.

The characters and scenes in the book highly favour Episodes 4-6 with only brief appearances by some from the Episodes 1-3. The kids using it with me wanted to know where Anakin and Padmé were. Good question.

Some of the pictures are quite funny like "Really Young Yoda". Some characters work much better than others in this form. Ewoks look great for example, but others like C-3PO & Chewbacca look unrecognizable unless you can add a lot with the marker.

One thing not really stressed in the instructions is that you need to wait for the ink to dry before adding detail, or turning the page. Some kids were more patient than others! Any complaints are minimal as we had fun with this book, several kids wanted to know where I got it (most book stores carry Klutz/Scholastic titles) and I was happy the ink washed off my fingers with ease!

Friday, November 1, 2013

What were the Ewoks up to shortly before they tied up Han & Luke and worshiped C-3PO? How did the Ewoks know about a secret entrance into the Death Star's deflector shield generator? Star Wars: Ewoks - Shadows of Endor tries to answer these questions in a fun adventure that works for kids and adults. It also sets up the Ewoks' encounter with the Rebellion in Return of the Jedi.

Written and illustrated by Zack Giallongo, with gorgeous colours by Braden Lamb, this digest-sized (like many Clone Wars titles, or Archie!) graphic novel from Dark Horse Books tells the story of how a group of Ewoks must trust an old enemy to get through many troubles and even face Imperials!

If all you know of the Ewoks is Return of the Jedi, then you're in for a treat as Giallongo shows us a much more diverse and dangerous "Sanctuary Moon" of Endor. The Empire is sometimes only a MINOR threat compared to some creatures there.

However, if you have ever read the Marvel Star Comics Ewoks series or remember the Saturday morning cartoon shows from back in the mid-1980's, you'll see plenty from those. Visually and story-wise, Shadows of Endor works as a clever and modern continuation of both of those Ewoks stories, but has it's own style and ties into the two 1980's Ewoks live action made-for-TV movies and even some stories from The Clone Wars TV show!

Don't be fooled into thinking this is just soft-and-cuddly cuteness though - these Ewoks have teeth...and spears! There's violence and bloodshed here, darkness and creepiness too. Endor is not as safe and sweet as it seemed on TV! However, there's no more graphic or violent content than The Clone Wars, it just jumps out a little more here.

I don't want to spoil anything by going into the storyline much. Let's just say I really enjoyed reading this story and look forward to more Star Wars: Ewoks tales if this is what they're going to be like!